2 
The success of any exploring expedition depends almost wholly upon 
the adequacy of its equipment and personnel. Expeditions to otherwise in- 
accessible place® are using ever larger airplanes, and so, too, the use of 
correspondingly larger ships - sho u ld - prove^of untold value in marine investi- 
gations. This, 1 know, is quite the reverse of what an uninitiated investi- 
gator might he led to believe, but the use of a large battle cruiser such as 
the U.S.'S. HOUSTON proved an unqualified asset and a blessing every day of 
the trip. Having this ship as our base of operations mad® it possible to 
accomplish as much as we did in a «ere twenty-four days at sea. 
M 
The HOUSTON is six hundred feet, three inches in lengtiffi aad, -- wi 4fa 
7&U 
full complement^ e ar n ed as over 700 men andoff leers, On this particular cruise, 
however, the crew numbered nearer 600. ^dt all times there was ample assistance 
at hand for whatever undertaking the day might bring forth. 
The ship has a top speed of 32 knots, which is something like 40 
miles an hour. However, at no time did she find it necessary to go above 26 
knots, about 30 miles an hour. The ECUS TDK, moreover, has fully equipped 
shops equal to any emergency: machine shop, carpenter shop, electrical shop, 
sail maker, airplane mechanics, print shop, barber shop, and, of Course, 
superlative medical service and hospital, with complete dental laboratory, 
clinic, and staff. 
Built to serve as fleet flagship, this cruiser had ample accommoda- 
tions for a number of guests, as well as convenient laboratory and storage 
facilities for the-s deutibl ’mem ber of ’ m y "party, ■ Brvffald o -L. 1 "nchaittr-Cur - at or 
i no -Inv e r t ebr&t e s ~of -4he -Ur-^r~Nafi onal mus eum , wno had & e en~det aided- 
t c,jacco apany the gTg ^dlt4oar-as~nat% > al-istr~SBf ! marine biologfrtv— 
